National Geographic photographer to stop in Corning

A National Geographic photographer will be in the area to talk about his photo essay on display at The Rockwell Museum in Corning.

Pete McBride will be at the Corning Museum of Glass from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 27 to discuss his photo essay, “The Colorado River: Flowing Through Conflict,” which is on display at The Rockwell Museum.

“I had an assignment for one of the National Geographic publications to follow up on a mine,” McBride said in a telephone interview. “When we got to the end, I realized that the river didn’t reach the sea. It was a story being ignored and not reported on, so I did more.”

He began photographing the river in 2009 and formed a title book on the photographs. The series combines his passions for aviation and conservation.

During his presentation, McBride will show some of his previous work, discuss his photo essay about the river and its history, and tell how his previous work led him back to Colorado, his home state.

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Completed in 1936, the 70-story high Hoover Dam was the greatest man-made structure after the Wall of China. For two decades it also reigned as the largest power plant. Built “to make the desert bloom,” the dam faces a diminishing river due to climate change and urban growth. If the ongoing drought lowers the reservoir another 50 feet (currently down more than 125 feet), the hydroelectric turbines will be inoperable. PETER MCBRIDE / Provided Photo

The milky waters of the Little Colorado River tributary in the Grand Canyon are the last sanctuary for the endangered humpback chub, whose populations are monitored by tags implanted marine biologists. These warm-water natives — equipped with neuromast-sonar receptors to catch insects in muddy waters — are compromised by the clear cold water released from the depths of the reservoir below the dam. The population recently rose to 6,000 after workers euthanized more than 30,000 trout and carp. PETER MCBRIDE / Provided Photo

Fifty miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border, the Colorado River Delta and its once-rich estuary wetlands — reduced by 95 percent since the river was restricted by dams — are now as parched as the surrounding Sonoran Desert. Only rare floods or canceled farm orders allow the river to reach the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). PETER MCBRIDE / Provided Photo

“The Loop” is located six miles above the Green River confluence in Canyonlands National Park, 50 miles downstream of Moab, Utah. The river follows an anticline atop 300-million-year-old salt beds buckling against the weight of more recent rock sediments. In 1964, President Johnson created Canyonlands National Park, as uranium prices fell and allowed him to work around numerous mining claims in the area. PETER MCBRIDE / Provided Photo

Interested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:

Admission is $20 for adults and $15 for students with an identification card. The museum anticipates a sell out and is recommending advance purchase of tickets.

McBride is a self-taught, award-winning photographer who has shot for National Geographic since 1998. He’s worked for the Smithsonian, Outside, Men’s Journal, Esquire, and STERN, among other publications.

The approximate 20-photograph exhibit is presented by The Rockwell Museum. The series opened to the public Friday and runs through Jan. 10 at the Rockwell Museum.

One of his favorite photos from the series shows the Colorado River carving through the landscape; a photograph he took at sunset with his father, who is a pilot.

McBride hopes anyone who sees “The Colorado River: Flowing Through Conflict” will have a greater understanding of the river. “(The issue) may not seem as big in New York, but it’s an issue worldwide; global shortage of fresh water.”

The Colorado River impacts people nationally, since the river produces 100 percent of the lettuce crop in America, he said.